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Melbourne

A little bit of this and a little bit of that today. SAFEST EUROPEAN CITIES A story at InsiderMonkey.com lists the safest cities in the world, which is an important topic any time but seemingly more so now given global events. Using data from the Global Peace Index, they assigned cities with a safety score. In this, the lower the number the more safe the city is deemed to be. Here’s the top 25 in descending order 25. Vilnius, Lithuania, 1.671 24. Rome, 1.662 23. Bucharest, 1.649 23. Madrid, 1.649 21. Sofia, 1.643 20. Warsaw, 1.634 19. Stockholm, 1.625 (very Read more

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Time Out has just issued its annual list of the world’s 40 coolest neighborhoods. Of course, it’s entirely a judgment call; what I call cool might be considerably different from what you like. Still I enjoy these lists. So here are some highlights that include some of my fave countries and U.S. states to visit. UNITED STATES California impressed with two spots in the top 30. The vibrant and funky Arts District in Los Angeles was 13th overall and second in the U.S. only to the Mid-City district of New Orleans. Here’s a Vancouver Sun story I wrote that talks Read more

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A new look at the world’s best cities puts Vienna on top, but the top of the charts is dominated by cities in Canada and Australia. The Global Liveability Indes from Economist Intelligence looked at a variety of quality of life factors in cities around the world, including such issues as stability, health care, culture and environment. The list is for liveability, not necessarily what’s the best place for a tourist to visit. But it’s still instructive. Vienna was tops, with a score of 98.4 out of 100. Here’s a link to a short item I posted about Vienna recently. Read more

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With travel back in full swing, (41% of Canadians are planning to, or have already booked a flight for 2023 ), it’s safe to say that Canadians are eager to travel again, and long-haul destinations are back on their wish lists…including Australia. With so much to do down under, we’ve narrowed down the top five reasons to visit Australia in 2023 highlighting some of the key moments including: FIFA Women’s World Cup (our Canadian team will be present!) NEW Hot Springs experiences NEW Hotels Opening in 2023 Kimberley Wild Expeditions 4-wheel drive wild tour Discover Aboriginal Collection Experiences FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD Read more

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WestJet today revealed significantly increased transborder connectivity from Edmonton International Airport, with new routes from Edmonton to London, Ontario Moncton, Charlottetown and the resumption of nonstop flights to Ottawa, Montreal, Nanaimo and Penticton. The airline also announced non-stop service from Edmonton to Minneapolis, Minnesota and Seattle, Washington as part of its 2023 summer schedule.  WestJet’s renewed commitment to Edmonton will see the airline’s service increase by almost 50% this summer when compared to 2022. Additionally, today’s announcement underpins WestJet’s strategic ambitions to grow its presence across Western Canada and further strengthens Canada’s east to west connectivity. “Since our first day Read more

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